Feeler-motion for looms.



V. RAINVILLE. I

FBBLER MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1910.

1,040,409. Patented 0011.8,1912.

2 SHBBTS-S HEET 1.

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V. RAINVILLE.

PEBLER MOTION FOR LOOMS. I APPLICATION-FILED JULY 20, 1010.

v Patented 000. s, 1912.

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i and State of Massachusetts,

'- ward the fell, with VICTOR RAINVILLE, 0F LAWRENCE,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 DRAPER COMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FEELER-MOTION FOR LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct 8, 1912.

Application filed July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,781.

To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that I,.V1o'roR RAINVILLE, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex have invented an Improvement in Feeler-Motions for Looms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in feeler motions for weft-replenishing looms of the Draper type, in which the actuation of the bobbin-changing mechanism is permitted by the engagement of the shuttle or filling carrier, as it is moved toa controlling device, through the medium of a feeler slide which directly engages the filling on the bobbin. It has been found'diilicult to adapt devices of this character to the various conditions which are encountered in practice, so that the changing of the bobbin is insured without undue waste of the filling, and one of the most serious objections to looms of this type is the waste of filling caused by the ejectmcnt of the bobbins while there is yet a considerable, or unnecessary quantity of filling thereon. The labor cost for removing the filling which is left on the bobbins is also a matter of expense which varies in direct pro- ;ortion to the amount of filling which must be removed. Devices of this character comprise a feeler and a feeler-carrier or con troller, one of which has a face arranged to engage the filling on the bobbin in the shuttle and the other a face to engage an abutment carried by the shuttle, so that the filling-changing operation may take place when these faces are held during the forward movement of the lay, in a certain relative position, induced by the exhaustion of the filling from the bobbin. Inasmuch as the conditions of use are likely to vary, on account of variations in sizes of the bobbin and shuttle, it is desirable to have means for varying this relative position according to these variations, so that the operation may be caused to take place at the time desired under the different conditions which are encountered. P rior devices of this character, which have been generally used, are so arranged that the operating means for the bobbiirohanging mechanism, which is moved to an inoperative posi ion on each alternate forward movement of the lay, is engaged by either the side of theshuttle, or the base of the bobbin, and the repeated engagement,

during a portion, at least, of the time when the filling is being drawn from the bobbin, causes the wood to become worn away, so that unless frequent readjustments are made, imperfect results are secured, for the reason that the bobbin changing operation is caused to take place too late, or not until after the filling has been completely drawn from the bobbin, or undue waste is caused for the reason that said operation is caused to take place too soon.

The objects of my invention are topronltlel'" a device of above described character. which is of simple and durable construction, and unlikely to get out of order,-or to'becomej clogged so that'it will not operate satisfac torily, and which may be so adjusted that nearly all of the filling may be drawn from the bobbin before the bobbin changing operation takes place, but. which will cause such operation to take place before the filling is entirely exhausted from the bobbin.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby engagement of the device with any portion of the shuttleis the bobbin for more than ashort time is prevented, so that the necessity of readjustment by reason of the wearing of the wood is avoided.

Another object of my invention is to rovide a device of the above described 0 aracter in which ready and efficient means for adjusting the relative positions of the feeler and feeler-controller is provided, so that the device may be accurately adjusted to varying conditions and the filling-changing operation may be made to take place when the filling is practically, but before it is actually exhausted.

I accomplish these objects by means shown in the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a plan view of a feeler motion A made according to my invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view on Figs. 3, 6 showing the parts in different positions. Figs. 4 and 5, are viewssimilar to Fig. 2,

also showing the parts in different positions.

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on line 8-8 of 3.05

ii the drawing a indicates a shuttle having the usual bobbin 12 therein, the shuttle being shown in position on the lay 0.; A

spring-pressed feeler carrier or controller 1. 0

obviated, and engagement with the wood of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. and 7 are views similar to Fig. 1,

is mounted to slide horizontally on a casing m, fixed on the loom, said controller having a hunter head (Z on its front end, which is adapted to extend through a slot or opening a, in the side of the shuttle, said head being provided with a bobbin-engaging face 03 at its front end. A clip or bracket. 6 is mounted on the controller and is securedthereto by means of screws j, which pass through slots in the clip, so that said clip may be clamped to the controller and may be adjusted longitudinally thereof to a limited extent. Said clip is provided with a pair of ears 6 between Which a feeler lever g is mounted on a-pivot k. Said lever g is of approximately bell-crank form, and .comprises a horizontally disposed operating arm 9 having an engaging shoulder g, at its end, and a depending feeler arm 9 having a horizontally extending feeler, or filling engaging head 9*, at its end, said head 9 being provided with a bobbin-engaging face g at its extreme end. The heads d to 9* are arranged with their side edges closely adjacent each other, and the arm 9 counterbalances the arm 9 and head 9*, so that head 9 is normally held at the same level, by gravity, as head d, but extends a short distance beyond the same. The face 9 is thus normally held slightly closer, to the'bobbin than the face 03.

A bobbin-changing controlling arm is arranged to extend overthe casing m directly beneath the arm ,7", and in position to be engaged by the shoulder g thereof under certain conditions to be explained.

The bobbin is provided with a rib or abutment 5, which is merely the rib next the bobbin base of the series of filling retaining ribs with which bobbins are usually provided, see Fig. 6, said rib 5 being located opposite the head d and the portion b ,'between said rib and the bobbin-base, being located opposite the head 9 so that when thebobbin iscarried toward the slide, said rib b will, when the filling has been'nearly removed from the bobbin, engage the face (Z while the head 9 will engage the filling on the portion 6 which in practice is of the normal diameter of the bobbin. Under some conditionsit is desirable to have the head (2 of suflicient length to engage more than one of the retaining ribs 2;.

In the normal. operation of the loom, when the bobbin is full, or nearly full of filling, as indicated in Fig. 1, as the bobbin is moved toward the faces 61 and 9 the filling as on the bobbin will first engage the face 9 and the pressure thereagainst will cause the lever g to be swung on its pivot,

and the arm 9 to be swung rearwardly and p a the arm g upwardly out of engaging position, as shown in Fig. 2, sothat, on the further forward movement of the lay, the controller at will engage the filling and thereby be pushed back while the arm 9 is held atsuch an elevation that the shoulder g will not engage the arm j, but said arm 9 will pass thereover. lVhen the filling is nearly exhausted, so that the filling which covers the-rib b has been drawn off, and the filling between the rib Z) and the bobbin-base is being. exhausted, the time of engagement of the face 9 with the filling will, only slightly precede the engagement of the rib b with the face (Z and this interval will grow less and less, until the arm 9 is not raised to a sufiicientextent to avoid engage ment of the shoulder g with the arm j, so that, as the slide (Z ispushed back, said shoulder will engage said arm and cause the bobbin-changing operation to take place, as shown on Figs. 5 and 6.

' A stop arm n is secured to the side of casing m by screws 0, which pass through vertical slots in said arm, and extends over the arm 9 in position to limit the upward swinging movement of said arm, and thus prevent the head g from being swung down to such an extent as to permit the same to strike the sideof the shuttle, or from be ing so moved that its face 9* will be carried in the rear of the face d under any conditions, thereby enabling the head g* to act -on the controller or to push it back, as does the head it in the normal operation oftthe device. By adjusting the vertical position of the arm a, the upward movement of the arm 9 may be-limited at differentpoints as conditions may require.

By adjusting the clip a longitudinally of the controller the distance which the head f protrudes beyond the head (5 may be adjusted so that it will correspond to the radial distance between the surface of the rib b and the surface formed by the filling on the portion Zfi when the bobbin changing operation is to take place. By this means the quantity of filling to be left on the bobbin when the changing operation takes place, may be varied.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. In a loom having fillingreplenishing mechanism, a shuttle having a slotted side, and a bobbin in the shuttle having anabutment, in combination, a yieldin-gly sustained feeler-controller, a bunterhead on said controller to enter said slot and engage the abutment upon predetermined filling exhaustion, a lever mounted on said controller to swing vertically and comprising a horizontally disposed operating arm for the filling-replenishing mechanism, normally held by gravity in an operative position, a rig idly connected feeler arm depending from the axis, and a horizontally projecting feeler-head fixed on the feeler arm, at one side of said hunter-head and normally sustained by gravity adjacentthe level thereof in position, to enter the slot in the shuttle and engage the filling at one side of said abutment, the filling-engaging face of the color-head being maintained by gravity normally in advance of the face of the hunter-head and movable downwardly as it is moved rearwardly by -engagement with the filling, to swing said operating arm upwardly to inoperative position prior to actuation of the controller by engagement of the banter-head with the filling in the shuttle until the filling is hausted.

2. In a loom having weft-replenishing mechanism, a shuttle, and a bobbin carried substantially exthereby having an abutment, the combination of a yieldingly sustained feeler-controller having a forwardly extending hunter-head provided with an abutment-engaging face, a longitudinally adjustable bracket on the controller having an upright car, a vertically swinging lever pivot-ally mounted on the ear and comprising a horizontally ext-ended operating arm for the weft-replenishing mechanism, normally held by gravity in an operative position, and a rigidly connected arm depending from said pivot and extended forward horiifeeler-head beyond the face of the hunterhead, the engagement of the latter with the abutment prior to engagement of the feeler-hemd with the filling ell'ecting bodily movement of the controller while'the operating arm thereon in its operative posi tion, to thereby operate the weft-replenishing mechanism.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the'presence o l two subscribing witnesses.

VICTOR RA IN Vi LLTC.

Witnesses:

L. H. Humnnm, H. B. DAVIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

